March 13 (Bloomberg) — From a windswept corner of Hokkaido, Japan’s northernmost island, Japan Steel Works Ltd. controls the fate of the global nuclear-energy renaissance.
There stands the only plant in the world, a survivor of Allied bombing in World War II, capable of producing the central part of a nuclear reactor’s containment vessel in a single piece, reducing the risk of a radiation leak.
Utilities that won’t need the equipment for years are making $100 million down payments now on components Japan Steel makes from 600-ton ingots. Each year the Tokyo-based company can turn out just four of the steel forgings that contain the radioactivity in a nuclear reactor. Even after it doubles capacity in the next two years, there won’t be enough production to meet building plans.
More… ➡
Japan Steel also means the raw steel of samurai sword in Japan.
It is also called “tamahagane” which is made from chacoal and iron sand
by ancient blast furnace “tatara”.
One of a famous high-tech steel maker “Hitachi Metals” only makes it for japanese sword smith.But the way of steel making is real ancient one.
The movie was seen after a long time recentry.
The latter overwhelms this movie “Last Samurai” with the samurai at the beginning of the Meiji era by the fight with military forces of the West type. The modernization of our country and the spirit of Japan are content something being thought.
This time was miraculously the period of the big revolution that the age of of the traditional steel manufacture method “tatara” that supplied the material of arms “Japan Steel” changed places into the modern steel manufacture method with high manufacturing efficiency.
The history of the iron manufacturing company in Japan is first Unpaku steel company in 1899. (Present Hitachi Metals,Ltd Yasugi Works),and second government-owned Yahata steel in 1901(Present Nippon Steel)established.The history of modern steel manufacture of Japan is about more than 100 years if the establishment of the latter is ths start point of modern steel manufacturing.
The operation of Nittoho tatara revived in 1977 was done in the Yokota-cho of Ocizmo in January. It is hear that about ten tons iron sand and same quantity charcoals are burnt three days and night, Ingot iron of 2.5 ton are obtained.And about 30 percent of this is roughly divided into Japanese sword smiths of the whole Japan with Tamahagane as a material of the sword.
In Izumo shimane, the exhibition related to the steel manufacture is in each place. Historical Museum etc. of the iron of of the Japan steel(Wakou) museum in Yasugi-shi,Tatara and swords museum in Oku-Izumo-cho, History of Japan iron Museum, and the route of the inquiry of the history of iron.
As for Izumo, the traditional steel manufacture method has been firmly succeeded with the steel making process in a modern factory though it is an age when people very often pay attention to the new one, and a past thing is deserted.
Because there are material etc. by our company, I will recommend the thing that it is referred, and Izumo of iron and the steel of Japan at the reason hometown is visited by all means.